Elon Musk accused a BBC reporter of lying during an interview, sparking a debate about whether hate speech on the social network is on the rise.
Mr Musk went on the attack against a BBC journalist who had asked him to respond to claims that hate speech had increased on Twitter since his takeover in a late-night discussion with the broadcaster.
Mr Musk accused the reporter, US tech journalist James Clayton, of spreading a “false” claim after he asked for an example of the offensive content.
“I say sir, you don’t know what you’re talking about… because you can’t give me a single example of hateful content, not even a single tweet,” Mr Musk said.
“You stated that hateful content is prevalent. That is incorrect; you simply lied.”
Mr Clayton defended his line of questioning by citing a group that has warned about an increase in hateful posts on the site.
Despite the spat, Mr Musk said he would comply with the BBC’s request to remove a Twitter label designating the corporation as “government funded media” following a disagreement with the broadcaster.
Mr. Musk stated that he would agree to change the disclaimer to “publicly funded.” “We want it to be as truthful and accurate as possible,” he added, “so we’re adjusting the label.”
The billionaire got into an argument with the broadcaster after labelling state-funded media groups on the social network. He claimed the BBC was biassed, but added that it was “among the least biassed.”
